The club was formed in 1977 in a merger of the football departments of two local clubs, VTV Assel and TVG Drochtersen. First, unsuccessful attempts to combine the two had already been made three years earlier but were voted down by the members of VTV. It took until 1985 to see the new club having some success when it won promotion to the Bezirksliga. From there the club rose to the Bezirksoberliga Lüneburg, now the Landesliga, in 1987. After an era of success the club declined again in the late 1990s, suffering relegation down to the Bezirksliga in 1997. In 2001 the club returned to what was now the Landesliga Lüneburg.[1]
A runners-up finish in the Landesliga in 2004–05 took SV Drochtersen/Assel up to the tier five Verbandsliga Niedersachsen-Ost where it played as a lower table side for the next three seasons. In 2008, with the disbanding of the Oberliga Nord, the league was renamed to Oberliga Niedersachsen-Ost. Drochtersen/Assel achieved two upper table finishes in the league in the next two seasons. A seventh place in 2009–10 qualified the club for the now single division Oberliga but a 17th place in 2010–11 meant it had to drop down to the Landesliga again.[2]
Winning a championship in the Landesliga Lüneburg in 2011–12 took the club back up to the Niedersachsenliga. After three seasons at this level the club won the league in 2014–15 and earned promotion to the Regionalliga Nord.[2]
After winning the Lower Saxony Cup in 2018, SV Drochtersen/Assel qualified for the DFB-Pokal. In the first round, they were drawn at home against Bayern Munich – winner of the previous six Bundesliga titles – and lost by a sole goal from Robert Lewandowski in the last ten minutes.[3]
In 2019, they won the Lower Saxony Cup again, qualifying for their third participation in the DFB-Pokal in four years.[4] They were beaten 5–0 by Schalke in the first round.[5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the disbanding of the Oberliga Nord in 2008 the two Verbandsligas Ost and West in Niedersachsen were elevated to Oberliga status. From 2010 onwards the Oberliga Niedersachsen, commonly referred to as Niedersachsenliga, has been played in single division format.
